Former Gov. James E. Holshouser ranks among the most significant Republican figures in North Carolina’s modern political era.

His hard-fought victory in the governor’s race of 1972 against Hargrove “Skipper” Bowles was a landmark in state GOP politics, ending more than a century of control by the previously unbeatable Democratic Party and turning North Carolina into a state where two-party politics were not only possible, but likely and finally inevitable.

A state lawmaker from Boone at age 28 and the state’s youngest governor ever at 38, Holshouser was also chairman for the North Carolina Republican Party by age 32. He rode a fast track to leadership with a gentle courtesy that drew the envy of his peers and the admiration of his Democratic opponents.

Ultimately, Holshouser, who died Monday at age 78, is recalled as a lifelong proponent for education in North Carolina who also cast a shadow in the worlds of religion, law and the environment.

Holshouser’s rise in state politics was a long shot at the time it occurred. In what turned into an unlikely combination with fellow Republican Jesse Helms, Holshouser reshaped the Tar Heel state’s political landscape. Both rose to statewide prominence in the election of 1972 — aided by President Richard Nixon’s landslide victory over George McGovern nationally. It signaled the beginning of an overall shift by Southern voters to the Republican Party after years of straight-ticket Democratic voting.

What happened thereafter would be a primer for state politics for the next four decades. Helms took his seat in the U.S. Senate and became a vocal and controversial national voice for the bedrock conservatism that led to the rise of Ronald Reagan. Holshouser, more businesslike, low key and moderate, still identified himself as a conservative but not an anti-government libertarian.

Those who thought Holshouser not Republican enough — and he was booed at the 1976 state convention by Helms supporters — failed to understand his undying commitment to the GOP. Holshouser wasn’t much for divisive political rhetoric and tried to use a gentlemanly approach when he found himself battling a policy wall in Raleigh buttressed by a General Assembly stacked with Democrats. Still, he managed to establish health clinics to rural areas in need of medical support, endorsed expansion of the state park system and appointed minorities and women to posts in state government when it wasn’t being done. He supported a statewide kindergarten system and the Coastal Management Act to protect the state barrier islands and beaches.

He continued to be a role model for emerging leaders such as Gov. Pat McCrory, who sought Holshouser’s guidance during his campaigns and as he took office earlier this year.

Judging by divided politics of today, the state could use a few more Jim Holshousers.